Fountain Fresh International
| Industry | Soft drinks |
|---|---|
| Founder | Daniel G. Coborn[1] |
| Fate | Defunct |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Soft drink and water dispensers |
Fountain Fresh International is a defunct United States company that operated soft drink and water dispensers at retail locations. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Fountain Fresh developed and marketed in-store, self-serve soft drink and pure drinking water beverage centers in the mid-1990s.
The original value proposition was for consumers to enjoy low-priced beverages by washing and refilling reusable soft-drink bottles in the Fountain Fresh dispenser. The concept was rolled out in several retail locations throughout the United States, including a large number of Wal-Mart stores.
The stations proved messy, confusing, and difficult to operate, and few consumers saw the value of saving a few cents on beverages by using the units. The company enjoyed a brief flurry of interest in the mid-1990s, but by the late 1990s, was essentially out of business.
The company has since become an object lesson in understanding user needs before launching a major product line, and has been covered by such media outlets as NPR.
References[edit]
- ^ "RIP Dan Coborn". Progressive Grocer. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
External links[edit]
- Water Tech Online Article featuring Fountain Fresh International and the Beverage Center 2000
- Behavioral Prototype: Concept and Testing Beverage Center 2000
- [1] Discussed on This American Life in episode from April 2003.